Game over: 27 years of rock star videogame badness

Jacko! Shaky! Journey?! Come witness the carnage when rock and games collide

Shares

Introduction

Here at MusicRadar, we like music. And here at MusicRadar, we also like videogames. New Klaxons track? Love it. Red Dead Redemption? Loving that too.

So now we've established we're not haters, it's time to get the knives out and look at the world of videogames based on rock bands.

That's not games with licensed soundtracks but actual games based around an actual band. It's usually an adventure. It's sometimes a shooter. It's even been a pinball sim (twice actually). But what it also is 99 times out a hundred is a bit bloody rubbish.

Sound harsh? Well check the image at the top of this page and tell me you think they're brilliant. Exactly.

So kick back and have a look at these blasts from the past. Apart from avoiding the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games of the current generation (we'd be here all day), we're going to say it's pretty complete - unless, of course, you know better. Let us know in the comments below or via Facebook and Twitter (mark you entries #askmusicradar as usual please).

Journey

In 1983, Journey celebrated the release of Frontiers with a tie-in arcade game. The cabinet featured a cassette player which played a looped version of Separate Ways. Not Journey's finest moment this, to be honest...

PrevPage 2 of 25Next PrevPage 2 of 25Next

Wu-Tang: Taste The Pain

Not only do The Wu release an iffy PlayStation beat'em-up called Taste The Pain (Shaolin Style in the US) in 1999, they release a rubbish controller. Fact: your author once had one of these. Fact (ii) They're worth a quite a bundle of eBay. Sob...

PrevPage 3 of 25Next PrevPage 3 of 25Next

Frankie - The Computer Game

Debuting in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad, this baby had you solving a murder on the streets of Liverpool whilst searching for the Pleasuredome. Now, it was rough back in the Eighties but this is ridiculous...

PrevPage 4 of 25Next PrevPage 4 of 25Next

Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child

This slice of awful is a first-person shooter based on the Todd McFarlene comic - think Quake in slap. Sadly, the game is about a Kiss tribute band. Really. And to think, we could've featured PlayStation classic Kiss Pinball…

PrevPage 5 of 25Next PrevPage 5 of 25Next

Revolution X

This 1994 arcade lightgun affair had you rescuing a kidnapped Aerosmith in an inevitably distopian future. Reasonably popular in the arcades, it stiffed on console and the projected Public Enemy sequel died a death. Best bit? Steven Tyler screaming "Remember, music is the weapon!"

PrevPage 6 of 25Next PrevPage 6 of 25Next

Prince Interactive

A 1984 CD-ROM (remember them?) which combines a game (think dull ambient adventure Myst set in Paisley Park) combined with lots of the multimedia freebies you used to ignore on CD singles. Came with an exclusive song and a tattoo, bizarrely. Us neither...

PrevPage 7 of 25Next PrevPage 7 of 25Next

The Blues Brothers

A 1984 game for any console that would have it, The Blues Brothers was risible. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: "The characters have the ability to pick up objects (generally boxes) and either put them down to stand on them, or throw them at enemies." That spinning sound you hear etc…

PrevPage 8 of 25Next PrevPage 8 of 25Next

The Shaky Game

Time for a spot of Shaky! The Shaky Game was released in 1983 on the b-side of This Ole House and comes with a message from Mr Barratt himself explaining the rules. Given it's a maze game, we're not quite sure exactly what needed explaining…

PrevPage 9 of 25Next PrevPage 9 of 25Next

Spice World

A 1998 PlayStation dance game featuring superdeformed versions of our favourite grrl group where you must teach your spicy avatar dance moves and how to pinch Prince Charles's arse (really). Given it was released a week after Geri quit, not exactly Girl Power's finest moment…

PrevPage 10 of 25Next PrevPage 10 of 25Next

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Based on the film, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (1989) had you/Jacko rescuing kidnapped children from an evil Mr Big. Hmm. Released on various consoles in various states of good/badness, the game might not be all that but the synth versions of Billie Jean and Beat It are well worth tracking down on YouTube

PrevPage 11 of 25Next PrevPage 11 of 25Next

Ed Hunter

A 3-CD (two of which feature Maiden tunes) release back in '99, Ed Hunter is a 'on rails' PC shooter that takes our hero, via locations inspired by Maiden album covers, from prison to hell via a mental institution. Not exactly Ico, is it?

PrevPage 12 of 25Next PrevPage 12 of 25Next

Thompson Twins Adventure Game

Given away as a flexi-disc with games mag C&VG in 1984, once recorded onto cassette and loaded (!), this Spectrum adventure saw you guiding the trio around beaches, avoiding drowning, exploring caves and Not Much Else

PrevPage 13 of 25Next PrevPage 13 of 25Next

Crüe Ball

And here's the reason we didn't bother with Kiss Pinball - the mighty Crüe Ball, a 1992 EA pinball sim that was originally intended as an MTV license but when the price got too high, acquired its Crüeness at the last minute. Nice to know these things are planned

PrevPage 14 of 25Next PrevPage 14 of 25Next

Aural Quest

Released via the cassette version of The Stranglers album Aural Sculpture (1984), Aural Quest was a text adventure written by keyboard player, Dave Greenfield. Rather than play as JJ or Hugh, you played as the tour manager. Ouch

PrevPage 15 of 25Next PrevPage 15 of 25Next

Queen: The eYe

More distopian futureness with this 1998 action adventure, hidden amongst a 5CD Queen boxset which also included now-collectible instrumental versions of Queen hits. Weak gameplay, dated graphics, a storyline quite similar to we Will Rock You… It's not sounding good, is it?

PrevPage 16 of 25Next PrevPage 16 of 25Next

Give My Regards To Broad Street

A 1985 tie-in with the movie of the same name, this proto GTA has you driving around a surprisingly accurate map of London looking for musical notes with which to create No More Lonely Nights. Yes, we know

PrevPage 17 of 25Next PrevPage 17 of 25Next

Make My Video

The Make My Video series debuted in 1992 as a series of Sega CD titles based around making a video promo. Whether it was the Kris Kross, INXS or Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch versions, all should've ended up on the cutting room floor

PrevPage 18 of 25Next PrevPage 18 of 25Next

Rap Jam: Volume One

We'll gloss over Def Jam: Fight For New York (which is actually pretty good) and shine the spotlight of shame on this 1995 basketball sim for the SNES. Flavor Flav vs Queen Latifah plus the graphics of the devil? No wonder we never saw Volume Two

PrevPage 19 of 25Next PrevPage 19 of 25Next

N*Sync: Get To The Show

The Game Boy Color gets a AAA killer release with… Nope, can't type it. This 2001 piece of nonsense featured Trousersnake and his N*Sync chums getting - yes - to the show. And playing hackysack. Us neither

PrevPage 20 of 25Next PrevPage 20 of 25Next

50 Cent: Bulletproof

Fiddy goes for the next-gen coin with this ultra-violent shooter where you star as a revenge-fuelled rapper out to off the hitmen who tried to kill you. Life imitating art? Only if guest star Dr Dre is really an arms dealer and Eminem is a corrupt police officer. Anything can happen (like a sequel - which did last year)

PrevPage 21 of 25Next PrevPage 21 of 25Next

Beatle Quest

A 1985 text adventure for the C64 and ZX Spectrum where the game descriptions are entirely comprised of Beatles lyrics. One for hardcore fans only - who else would tolerate the 'You'll get by with a little help from your friends' response given when asking the game for Help…

PrevPage 22 of 25Next PrevPage 22 of 25Next

Tres Lunas

Now free on Oldfield's website, this virtual reality title has you flying around a fantasy world in a quest for seven gold rings. Lucky inhabitants sometimes had the ex-progger join them for a virtual chat. Say what you like but that doesn't happen in Warcraft…

PrevPage 23 of 25Next PrevPage 23 of 25Next

Devo Presents… Adventures Of The Smart Patrol

Save Spudland from Turkey Monkey! Laugh at the smart-arse kitsch humour! Be surprised when poorly-digitised nudie ladies start turning up! Even back in 1996, Windows adventures were better than this…

PrevPage 24 of 25Next PrevPage 24 of 25Next

Flying Trains

Released on the back of the ex-Freshie singer's 1983 seven-inch, when stuck on a cassette and screeched at a Speccy this game… well, disappointed. Sievey did lots more computer-y type stuff but only achieved fame when donning a papier-mache head and calling himself Frank Sidebottom. Little Frank!!